Monaco to Boost Production, Hire Workers

Monaco Coach Corp. plans to boost motorhome and towable RV production and it will hire about 100 more workers to enable itself to do so, according to Bloomberg.com.
Monaco President John Nepute told investment analysts that the company, which recently reported an 86% increase in first quarter earnings, will expand motorhome output to 170 units per week, from 150 a week, and it will build 65 towable units per week, up from 55 a week.
The increase in towables production will occur at Monaco’s factory in Elkhart, Ind., Nepute said. The additional motorhome production will be split between Monaco’s facilities in Oregon and Indiana, said Mike Duncan, investor relations manager.
The additional 100 workers Monaco plans to hire will be “incremental increases, not workers being brought back from layoffs,” Nepute said.
The 100 new employees will be hired “as we gradually increase production at each location,” Duncan added.
Monaco employs 5,200 people, including 2,500 in Coburg and Harrisburg, Ore., according to the Register-Guard of Eugene, Ore. The balance of Monaco’s employees are in northern Indiana in Wakarusa and Elkhart.
In addition to the increase in net earnings, Monaco’s sales revenue climbed 39% higher in the first quarter and Nepute told Bloomgberg.com, “The only thing that might hold us back is some sort of major world event that casts a pall over everything. Otherwise, we see the stars lining up for us and the industry.”
Meanwhile, Ruthanne Williams, analyst for RedChip Co., which does not own any Monaco shares and who rates the company’s stock as a “hold,” said, “This is going to be the summer of the RV and RV campground. We have always been bullish on these stocks long term because more people are retiring, but now the short term looks good too.”